


We Could Have Had It All

by thebrightestbird



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Genre: Crack, Gen, Humor, No real spoilers for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Tiny bit of Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-19 12:47:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22111102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebrightestbird/pseuds/thebrightestbird
Summary: Thanks to Sam and Bucky, Sharon finds out what happened to Steve.She is not happy.Post-Endgame crack with feelings.
Relationships: Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, Sharon Carter/Steve Rogers
Kudos: 23





	We Could Have Had It All

**Author's Note:**

> Like I said in the tags, there are no real spoilers for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier series. I was just inspired by the fact that Sharon Carter is on the series, but that's as much as I know. Everything is just my headcanon for now.

Sam and Bucky aren't in their new apartment for even a full morning when they get their first visitor. 

The doorbell rings. 

And rings. 

And rings. 

"SAM! Get the door!" 

"Barnes, I'm busy putting away your shit." Sam's arms are filled with boxes. "You're in the kitchen; you answer it your own damn self." 

"Can't. I'm sharpening knives." 

"What kind of dumbass excuse-," Sam cuts himself off when he comes out of Bucky's bedroom and sees what the man is really doing. "Bro, those aren't even kitchen knives." 

Bucky looks up from his fancy karambit to shrug. "Priority one for a new home is security." 

The doorbell rings yet again, making Sam flinch. "This explains why all your boxes are the heaviest. Let me guess, that's not your only box of weapons." 

"Duh," Bucky says, not bothering this time to look back up at Sam. Whoever's at the door is getting impatient and lays into the buzzer again. "Get the door," he demands again. 

Sam sighs and flicks on the monitor for the front door camera. A familiar blonde is staring right at the lens — and she's pissed. "Oh, shit. It's Sharon." 

That gets Bucky's undivided attention. "Carter?" 

Sam vigorously nods his head. "What the fuck is she doing here?" 

Bucky opens his mouth to hazard a guess but is interrupted. 

"Are you assholes gonna make me kick this door open?" 

Bucky tightens his grip on the knife and gets up from the table in a defensive stance. 

"No, man! Stand down," Sam scoffs at the overreaction. 

Bucky rolls his eyes but tucks away the weapon (where he can easily reach it). 

"Yo, Sharon! I'm coming!" Sam finally addresses the woman behind the door. "Don't make us give up our deposit already." 

Sam barely turns the knob before the woman barrels through. 

"Uh, what's up, Sharon?" Sam tries to quickly recover from the intrusion, flashes his most winning and not-at-all nervous smile. "Long time no see." 

Sharon looks at him with pure disgust. "Yeah, five years too long!" 

"Did you blip out of existence too?" Sam asks. 

"Do I look five years older?" 

Oh, no. Sam knows better than to answer age questions. Outrage from women is a stereotype but one that has proven to be true in Sam's experience (a set of tires and Gucci matching luggage have paid the price for wrongly answering such questions). "You ... look your age?" _Nice recovery, Sam,_ he mentally congratulates himself. 

Sharon sighs, exasperated. "Yes, I blipped like the both of you. I was even fighting with you all when we came back. Not that anyone noticed, apparently." 

"In our defense," Bucky finally speaks, "we were all a little busy. Fighting a giant murdering purple ball sack." 

Sharon and Sam stare at Bucky with twin looks of astonishment. 

Bucky frowns. "Am I wrong?" 

Sharon shakes her head in dismay. "Okay, let me cut to the chase." She points an accusing finger at Sam, then Bucky. "You two idiots owe me answers." 

"What do you mean?" Sam asks. 

She folds her arms over her chest and stares daggers at them. "Where's Steve?" 

The two men look at each other panicked. 

"Oh, shit." 

Bucky's the one who says it this time. 

|| 

"Why are we at my Great Aunt Peggy's old house?" 

Sam and Bucky hold their tongues. 

"And why does it look like it's still being lived in?" 

Sam and Bucky look at the yard and exterior like they're just as surprised as Sharon is. They still say nothing and keep walking to the front door. 

Sam lifts his hand to knock when Bucky eliminates the need. "Yo, Steve! Get out here!" 

Sam looks at him with alarm. 

Bucky shakes his head. "Let's just get this over with, Wilson." 

Sharon gapes at them. "Wh-why is Steve-" 

She's interrupted by the door opening. 

Steve is all crinkled eyes and beaming smile as he greets his friends. "Hey, Buck, Sam!" 

Then he sees Sharon. His jaw drops. 

Sharon fucking faints. 

|| 

When Sharon comes to, her SHIELD training kicks in. She quickly assesses her surroundings. She's on a floral-patterned couch, vintage, in a very familiar living room. On the end table next to her is a framed photograph ... 

Of her Aunt Peggy and Steve ... 

At their wedding. 

"SON OF A BITCH!!!" 

"Oh, good. She's awake," Bucky dryly remarks. 

Steve tries to hide under the kitchen table. Sam stops him with a hand on the shoulder. "Oh, no you don't, old man." 

|| 

Sharon can't stop pacing. She huffs occasionally, looks up to ask whatever deities or telepaths that might be eavesdropping to grant her strength, straightens random pieces of furniture (Aunt Peggy always kept things organized), and desperately, desperately fights the urge to cry. 

"You want some juice?" Steve helplessly asks. 

"Please, Steve," Bucky chastises, "offer the lady vodka, at least." 

Sam begrudgingly agrees with him. Sharon looks like she could use some hard liquor. 

Sharon clenches her eyelids shut. "How?" she dully asks, the monosyllabic word the only thing she has strength to utter at the moment. 

"I had to bring the Stones back to their proper times or we would have been responsible for disrupting the timelines." Steve can only give the most straight-forward answer at first. Truth be told, he's a bit afraid of Sharon at the moment. 

Hearing the aged version of Steve's voice jars Sharon's eyes open. She stares at the man with wonder. "You're old," she plainly says. "Older than what you already were." 

Steve looks at the nonexistent distance. "I went back to my time." 

Sharon's face softens for a moment. Only for a moment, before the pain hits. "I never stood a chance with you," she admits to herself. 

Steve has the dignity to not make excuses or deny her statement. "I'm sorry, Sharon." 

She swallows the lump in her throat. "I've spent my entire adult life trying to live up to the standard of Peggy Carter. I'm proud to think that I have. But I also like to think that I managed to also become my own person. Fully realized and self-assured." 

Steve nods a little mindlessly at her words. He smartly keeps his mouth shut and intently listens. 

"What I'm trying to say is that I almost loved you not because Peggy Carter loved you." She blinks away tears. "My feelings for you were all Sharon Carter." 

Steve closes his eyes and hangs his head in solemn recognition of her feelings. 

"You got to live your life with Peggy, and I am honestly happy for you. So, I'm going to say one more thing on the matter of us before I move on with my life. Because, Steve, you better believe I will be able to move on from you." 

"I know," Steve needlessly says. 

"Okay," she takes a deep breath, "I want you to understand that if you had returned to our time and had come back to _me_ ," her voice breaks at the word, "we would have had a great life together, Steve. A really fucking great life." 

Steve opens his mouth to speak, but Sharon stops him. 

"And before you tell me that 'you know' that would have been the case, please do me a favor and reconsider that response. Because then you will have admitted to knowing and going back in time _anyway_." 

For a long moment they stare at each other, coming to a silent resolve. 

Sam and Bucky break the silence with polite golf claps. Sharon and Steve look at them like they're insane. 

"What?" Sam asks. "That was some good drama right there." 

"Yeah, Steve," Bucky nods in agreement, "you deserved every bit of that. Actually, Sharon, do you want to borrow my knife? Some light stabbing would probably make things really even." 

"Bucky!" Steve looks at Sharon with actual concern that she'd take the offer. 

Sharon just chuckles. "Nah, Barnes, I'm good. I've got some really awkward questions for the geezer though. Should cut better than any knife." 

Bucky and Sam's faces light up like Christmas trees. 

Steve sighs and accepts his fate. "What do you want to know?" 

" _Wellll_ ," Sharon drags the word out, "are there any new cousins I should know about?" 

Steve's mouth forms an "O" in surprise. "Yeah, there are a few." 

Sharon nods her head in acknowledgment. That wasn't a surprise for her. "Are my old cousins nonexistent?" 

"Oh, that's a good question," Sam chimes in. 

"Unhelpful, Sam," Steve groans. 

"Wasn't meant to be, man. I genuinely need to know now." 

Steve glares. "Your original cousins are still here. Once all the timelines converged, everyone who ever existed in both simply continue to exist." 

"Hmm," Sharon considers the answer, "that's entirely too convenient." 

"That's the kind of dumb shit you'd get in comic books," Bucky remarks. 

Steve shrugs. "Yeah, messing with time is surprisingly consequence free." 

Sharon starts to roam the living room again, paying particular attention to the photos. One captures her attention. "Well, this here answers my next question." She holds the frame out for the guys to see. It's of Steve, Peggy ... and an adolescent Sharon. 

"Wow, that's weird," Sam says. 

Steve puts his face in his hands. "What do you think it was like for me, Sam?" 

Sharon stares at the photo some more. "Did Aunt Peggy know about us?" 

Steve huffs. "Oh, yeah, I was completely honest about everything." 

"How'd she take it?" Bucky asks. 

"At first, she was shocked, but she came to terms in her typical no-nonsense manner. She couldn't fault me for getting involved with someone new in the future. The fact that she happened to be related to her wasn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things." 

"How'd you act around me?" Sharon's curious. 

"You were my great-grandniece," Steve says it like it's no big deal. "I spoiled you and helped Peggy pick out your pink Glock." He smirks at the memories. 

"Oh, God," Sharon groans, "I called you Uncle Steve, didn't I?" 

Bucky and Sam shudder. 

Steve opens his hands in the air in a helpless gesture. "I was your favorite." 

Sharon rolls her eyes. "Of course, you were." She puts the photo back. "Well, that's all I want to ask for now. I've got other things to worry about." 

"What's wrong?" Steve asks. 

"Finding work post-Blip is hard as hell. I've tried to get my job with the CIA back, but the paperwork is even more of a nightmare. And, not to beat a dead horse, but thanks to you, Steve, my background check is going to be a bitch to pass." 

Steve considers what he could possibly do to help her. She's right, he has a lot of the responsibility for what she's going through now. He looks at his friends and finds inspiration. "You could join them." 

Sam and Bucky shoot him confused looks. 

Sharon's curious. "What are you two doing?" 

"Not to brag," Sam starts, "but I'm the new Captain America." 

Bucky shakes his head. "He doesn't have a costume yet." 

"I'm working on it," Sam insists. "I've got the shield — thanks, Steve — which is the important part." 

"What about you, Barnes?" Sharon asks. 

"Atonement," is all Bucky says, he flexes his metal arm almost subconsciously, she notices. 

"I'd join them, but," Steve gestures vaguely to his body, "I'm afraid super soldier serum is no match for arthritis." 

"Really?" Bucky bemoans. 

"Sorry, Buck. You still have being old to look forward to." 

"What about, _ahem_ ," Sam clears his throat, "you know, uh, _bedroom_ stuff?" 

"Sam, come on!" Sharon chastises. 

"Oh, like none of you are curious!" 

"Sam, I'm not answering that." 

"Fine, be that way! It's not like I got magic juice running through my veins. I already got lower back problems, and I was still the main one moving those boxes into our apartment. Fuck you very much, Barnes. Now, I gotta be Captain America and throw a 200-pound Frisbee around. You know what? Actually, no thanks for the shield, Steve." 

Steve comes out of nowhere to hug the man. "I missed you so much, partner." 

Sam sputters to a stop and gladly hugs back because, of course, he means none of his rant. 

Meanwhile, behind Sam, Bucky silently mouths to Steve about the answer to the bedroom question. Steve gives him a reassuring thumb's up. 

Sharon witnesses it all and rolls her eyes. For heaven's sake, these are the few idiots around who are still trying to keep the world safe, and now she’s responsible for them? She cracks a secret smile. 

She can't wait. 

-end- 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
